Global warming and state-corporate crime: the politicalization of global warming under the Bush administration

Global warming is one of the most significant and difficult issues facing the world today. As result, researchers in a number of disciplines have directed their attention to addressing issues relevant to the study of and responses to global warming. This has been less true in the social sciences, and especially within specific social sciences such as criminology, in comparison to the physical sciences. Global warming does, however, have criminological and sociological relevance on several levels. This article examines one of those levels by exploring the politicalization of global warming under the Bush Administration, and addresses this issue as an example of state-corporate crime.     

Adapting and Applying the Phenice (1969) Adult Morphological Sex Estimation Technique to Subadults

This research evaluated whether adult morphological sex estimation methods of the innominate could be adapted and applied to subadults. The subpubic concavity, described by Phenice (1969) and revised by Klales et al. (2012), was modified for use with subadults. Two observers scored radiographic images from the PATRICIA database of 334 individuals of both sexes aged between 1.19 and 20.47 years. Score frequencies shifted from score 2 (straight) to higher frequencies of score 3 (convexity) in males and score 1 (concavity) in females with increasing age. Using ordinal logistic regression, sex classification was highest for the oldest age cohort at 97.2% and then decreased by age cohort. Interobserver error rendered a high level of agreement (0.806) using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results indicate that the Klales method can be modified and applied to subadults to accurately estimate sex following the onset of puberty with a high degree of reliability and validity.     

Preemployment screening and training could reduce excessive force litigation cases

Police officers enter law enforcement with enthusiasm. However, at some point, their idealism dissipates to the point of apathy causing some to become aggressive with the general public. During this period, some officer’s performance declines. This raises concerns for superior officers and management with how these problems could lead to legal liabilities if out-of-control officers engage in excessive force.     

Coercion,competence, and consent in offenders with personality disorder

Competence to consent to treatment has not previously been examined in a personality disorder cohort without comorbid mental disorder. We examined competence and coercion in 174 individuals diagnosed with severe personality disorder using two validated tools (the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment and the MacArthur Coercion Assessment Scale – Short Form). Competence was not categorically impaired, but there were variations within the sample on dimensional competence measures. Further, there were significant negative correlations between experienced coercion and competence. Higher coercion scores were associated with two components of competence: lower understanding and reasoning. Patients who consented to treatment had higher scores on competence measures and experienced less coercion. These findings suggest that therapeutic approaches that decrease experienced coercion and increase competence may increase the engagement of individuals diagnosed with severe personality disorders in treatment.     

Pharmacological interventions for drug-using offenders: an update to a systematic review and meta-analysis

Journal of Experimental Criminology - This updated systematic review assesses the effects of pharmacological interventions for drug-using offenders. Systematic review protocols and conventions of...